Rethinking the Continuous Education and Training of Healthcare Professionals in the Context of Digital Technologies

Introduction

Never as today, teaching and continuous training have assumed such a significant centrality in the countries' development strategies. Employers use educational institutions as a recruitment channel, leaving out active forms of recruitment that can directly influence the supply of skills (Suleman et al, 2021). Leaving, in most cases, lifelong training, under the responsibility of professionals. In the specific case of the health sector, the need to improve and optimize the characteristics of the provision of healthcare and the evolution of work processes in hospitals and health centers calls for a renewal of contents and modalities of continuous training of healthcare professionals. To achieve this goal, continuous training must promote, among other things, the adequacy of professional qualifications to the constant changes in citizens' health and illness states, in addition to fulfilling its fundamental role of contributing to personal development and satisfaction, as well as to encourage the exercise of citizenship by the different healthcare professional categories (medical doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals, and other senior healthcare professionals).

Continuous education and training are essential for healthcare professionals to stay current in their field and provide evidence-based care to their patients. With the rapid pace of technological advancement, healthcare professionals need to stay up to date on the latest tools and techniques in their field (Thibault, 2020). Currently, it is increasingly necessary to include digital technologies (Miranda & Tolentino, 2023), as they have opened new opportunities for healthcare professionals to engage in continuous education and training. Online courses, virtual simulations, and other interactive learning tools allow professionals to learn at their own pace and on their schedule (Mustafa et al., 2022; Tudor Car et al., 2022; Valderama et al., 2022). One of the main advantages of digital instructional technologies is that they can provide a more immersive and interactive learning experience compared to traditional forms of education (Garcia, 2020; Howard, 2023; Vaona et al., 2018). For example, virtual simulations can allow healthcare professionals to practice procedures and techniques in a simulated environment, providing a safe and controlled setting for learning.

Another advantage of digital instructional technologies is their accessibility (Luluquisin et al., 2021; Mustafa & Garcia, 2021; Revano et al., 2018), as healthcare professionals can access a wide range of educational resources from anywhere in the world. This is particularly useful for professionals who may not have the time or resources to attend in-person training sessions (Barua et al., 2023; Garcia et al., 2023; Solanki et al., 2023). However, despite the many benefits of digital instructional technologies, healthcare professionals need to be aware of the potential limitations, since practicing virtually will not be the same as practicing on a real patient, and there may be technical challenges that arise when using virtual simulations or other interactive tools. Thus, there is a high demand for the flexibility of these professionals who must be able to solve problems, decide, and act in a complex environment such as health service organizations (Li et al., 2022). Mostly, in the 21^st century and due to the impact of the pandemic associated with the SARS-CoV-2 or the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (Fung et al., 2022; Revano & Garcia, 2021), digital instructional technologies have emerged not only as a privileged means of sharing information among healthcare professionals but represented and represent currently one of the main ways of training and updating the knowledge of healthcare professionals worldwide (Almeida, 2023; Çalış et al., 2023).